I am sorry if I gave the impression that I thought he definitely wasn’t one, I personally just think that this is one of those things that can’t be 100% certain anymore, even if it may be 99%.

On the spectrum is technically correct as long as it can be implied from an earlier specification that it is about the meant spectrum. And even if it is technically correct, having a good reason for continuing with simply the spectrum would… make sense. If people would realize that they try to leave out the terms autism and autistic for a wrong reason (and maybe they don’t) that would be a success. It’s not about choosing whether something is offensive to me or not, but whether it is, be it intended or not. I am aware that people don’t usually use it to purposefully be offensive, and in that sense I can understand it - but that doesn’t change that (depending on the unconscious reason) it is offensive anyway.

either Asperger’s or autism

How I see it, there is no such thing as Asperger’s or autism; Asperger’s is a historical type of autism. In research ‘autism’ was sometimes used for specifically Kanner’s/‘classical autism’ so another term had to be used for the group of both when it became seen as one bigger spectrum: ASD. Hans Asperger himself used the term ‘autism’ as well however, referring to his patients, so ASD and autism are synonymous.

I agree with autism being considered a spectrum and with the ‘official’ name being ASD, but my post wasn’t about that. Rather, it was about people just talking about the spectrum and leaving the term ‘autism’ or ‘autistic’ completely out, which I think was pretty clear, but maybe it was not?

Off-topic, but personally I think it really is not possible to definitely say Hans Asperger was a nazi.

either Asperger’s or autism

How I see it, there is no such thing as Asperger’s or autism; Asperger’s is a historical type of autism. In research ‘autism’ was sometimes used for specifically Kanner’s/‘classical autism’ so another term had to be used for the group of both when it became seen as one bigger spectrum: ASD. Hans Asperger’s himself used the term ‘autism’ as well however, referring to his patients, so ASD and autism are synonymous.

I agree with autism being considered a spectrum and with the ‘official’ name being ASD, but my post wasn’t about that. Rather, it was about people just talking about the spectrum and leaving the term ‘autism’ or ‘autistic’ completely out, which I think was pretty clear, but maybe it was not?

Off-topic, but personally I think it really is not possible to definitely say Hans Aspergers was a nazi.

Another reason why I dislike it: there are other spectrum disorders. It seems weird to consider autism the spectrum only because it’s the most widely known and it could also could cause confusion. This disadvantage also means that (if considered) there has to be more perceived advantage from other factors (like wanting to forcibly emphasize difference), making it more insulting.